The present disclosure relates generally to navigation, and more specifically, to providing navigation instructions to a user for reaching a destination via a route planned on a map comprising a plurality of road segments.
Nowadays, many travelers rely on guidance from navigation equipment, e.g. global position by satellite (GPS) navigational systems or navigational system utilizing surface transmissions, to find their way to an intended destination. This applies to people travelling in many different ways, e.g. by foot or by bike, although the use of such navigation equipment is most prevalent in vehicles, e.g., cars, vans, lorries and so on. Many different navigational systems are available, ranging from applications for smart phones to high-end integrated systems.
The navigational system typically relies on some form of map of the global area in which the user of the system is travelling. Such maps are typically divided in multiple road segments for which travel characteristics such as length, typical average speed and/or speed limit, actual traffic information and so on will be available, with the system calculating a route to the intended destination based on some cost function, which may be user-defined, e.g. a shortest route, shortest route avoiding motorways, fastest route, most fuel-efficient route, and so on.
In terms of road safety, it is important that the user limits interaction with the navigation system to the minimum amount, e.g. to avoid distraction from surrounding traffic. To this end, it is important that the navigation system delivers a satisfactory user experience, as an unsatisfactory experience may entice the user to alter the settings of the navigation system, thus increasing the risk of accidents. Although this can be mitigated to some extent by hands-free control of the navigation system, it still requires the user to concentrate on altering the settings of the navigation system, which is undesirable. It is therefore preferable to reduce the risk of a user becoming dissatisfied with the service provided by the navigation system, such that the user would feel less inclined to intervene.
An example of such nuisance instructions is the navigation system producing detailed route guidance instructions in an area with which the user is familiar. This can often lead to the user trying to switch off the navigation system whilst in traffic, e.g. when operating a vehicle at the same time, which can cause the user to give diminished attention to the traffic, thus jeopardizing road safety. Many users want to use navigation systems even on routes that they are familiar with, for instance because in navigation mode the navigation system will provide the user with up-to-date traffic information such that the user can avoid getting stuck in traffic. In such a scenario, a user does not require the navigation system to provide detailed navigation instructions until the user takes a recommended unfamiliar alternative route to avoid traffic congestion.
This problem is addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,133 B1, in which a navigation system has awareness of areas that are familiar to the user, such that the nature of the navigation instructions are matched to the familiarity of the user with the area through which the user drives. The navigation system has a learning module that determines if a user is familiar with a certain route by recording the frequency of use of that route. This approach has the disadvantage that for different users of the same navigation device, inappropriate instruction levels may be provided due to the fact that an occasional user may not be familiar with a route that is frequently used by the main user of the navigation system.
This problem is addressed in US 2010/0324816 A1, which discloses a navigation system that identifies the user of the navigation system such that it is ensured that appropriate navigation instructions are provided for the identified based on a selected cartographic resolution relevant to that user. The navigation system may include a learning functionality that enables it to dynamically react to driving patterns, driving habits, traffic trends and/or user interaction with the system. This enables the system to learn areas and roadways that a user frequents to present improved navigation instructions to the user.
However, it has been found that the learning functionality of the state of the art navigation systems can be inaccurate, and in certain circumstances can wrongly assume that navigation instructions can be omitted due to the incorrect conclusion that the user is familiar with a part of the scheduled route.